


Dragon by the Tail

by willow_larkspur



Series: Fantasy February [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Thieves & Assassins, Death by Dragon Fire, Desi Harry Potter, Disagreements over Marriage Contracts, Dragon Harry Potter, Dragon Slayer Kingsley Shacklebolt, Female Harry Potter, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Multi, Nonbinary Tracey Davis, Not Albus Dumbledore Friendly, Not Order of the Phoenix Friendly, Not Severus Snape Friendly, Royal Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29807403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willow_larkspur/pseuds/willow_larkspur
Summary: Blaise was an assassin. Kidnapping wasn't his normal thing. He was definitely regretting having kidnapped Crown Princess Harini instead of just killing her. What kind of kidnapping victim critiques your performance? ...could she change into a fire-breathing dragon the whole time?
Relationships: Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini, Tracey Davis/Daphne Greengrass/Luna Lovegood
Series: Fantasy February [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141499
Kudos: 29
Collections: MC4A Year 3





	Dragon by the Tail

**Author's Note:**

> Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I’m just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn’t going to get you anything but tears.  
> Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. There’s also references to canon-typical manipulative behavior & planned forced marriage between a teenager and an adult. Oh, and a flash of dragon-related violence with referenced deaths. Feel free to back out if need be.  
> Author’s Note: Who needed a high fantasy AU with a Potter Royal Family? How about an AU where Blaise is an assassin for hire?

(^^)  
 **Dragon by the Tail**  
(^^)

This job had been a mistake.

Blaise had been skeptical of the job from the very start. Daphne and Tracey had been adamant that it was a solid offer. It didn’t hurt that the payment for the job was retirement money. They were good at their jobs, but in their line of work, there was a definite ticking clock on the career. It would be nice to get out while they could still have a life.

Kidnapping the crown princess was not something to be undertaken lightly, especially when most of their jobs were a quick in and out leaving only corpses behind as witnesses that they had ever been there. The fact that Lord Dumbledore wanted Princess Harini brought to him alive was suspicious. If the man had just wanted to talk the princess, he could have simply requested an audience with her. As an advisor both to the current king and queen as well as the king’s late father, Dumbledore was sure to have his request granted.

As an assassin, Blaise had made a number of questionable decisions. Daphne and Tracey had as well. It was part of the job, so none of them had thought twice about them unless it was to reflect on how to improve for next time. Given everything involved in this particular job, something just wasn’t sitting right with him, though. And the farther their little group rode into the desert which surrounded the capital city, the more convinced he became that he was going to regret kidnapping the princess instead of just killing him, regardless of the money.

After all, what kind of kidnap victim critiqued your performance?

Not to mention how easy it had been to kidnap her in the first place. She hadn’t even struggled at all. There was the unfortunate addition of her official companion having been caught as well and brought along. The Lady Luna had been thrilled to be included, of course, and had been chatting with both Daphne and Tracey as they had traveled.

Which left Princess Harini to talk to Blaise.

“It occurs to me that I do not see any provisions,” Harini said. She had one hand sheltering her emerald eyes against the bright sun. Her sienna skin was barely visible under the diaphanous layers of her mulberry robes, but what he could see was taking on a red tint from being unprotected for so long. Even with his dark skin, he was starting to feel the prickle of having spent too long in the sun. He couldn’t imagine why Daphne and Luna weren’t as red as the firebirds that nested around the palace. Their pale complexions offered no natural protection, after all. Tracey wouldn’t be bothered as he knew from experience. Nothing bothered xem. “Did you even bring more than one water skin?”

“We’ll be fine, Your Highness,” Blaise answered. He checked the land around them before adjusting his horse’s direction just slightly. Harini sighed loudly. Blaise rubbed his forehead and reminded himself that it was worth three times as much to deliver her alive and unharmed.

“It’s already midday and we’ve been riding for hours,” she said. Her doubt was axiomatic in her voice. “You don’t seem to have planned this very well. Do you even have a plan?”

“Of course I have a plan!”

“Well, if you’re sure,” she allowed, “but something tells me this plan of yours is going to end so badly. Are you sure you’re a professional?”

“What kind of question is that?!”

“A legitimate one from what I’ve seen,” Harini said. Her voice was as dry as the desert around them. She gave another one of those sighs that made him want to wring her delicate neck. “Mr. Zabini, just tell me the truth. I deserve that much. I’ve been very cooperative.”

In an attempt to reign in his temper, he recited an old nursery rhyme to himself. The sentence was meant to teach elocution to young children so that they do not mispronounce any spells. He had always found it calming. He had forgotten about the royal pain in his patella riding next to him.

“Why on earth would anyone sell seashells by the seashore?”

“Oh, thank the gods,” Blaise announced instead of answer the princess’ question. He had spotted the circle of stone monoliths that marked the entrance to the cave where they were going to meet Dumbledore. He whistled a series of sharp notes to catch the attention of his partners. Immediately, he heard their fast approach.

“They’re already here,” Tracey said. Xe moved xyr hands through a complex series of gestures that would hone xyr Sight enough to see what awaited them inside the cave. “There’s more of them than agreed upon, Blaise.” 

Xe didn’t say what they were both now thinking. This may be an ambush. Unfortunately, there was no help for it now. They had passed the point of no return as soon as they had left the palace with their captives.

“No way out but through,” Daphne said, already dismounting and leading her horse to the small pool of water fed from a spring within the cave. Soon all five of them had done the same and were entering the cave. Shortly after that they arrived in the large cavern Dumbledore had picked as the place to make the exchange.

Instead of Dumbledore and two partners as agreed, there were a group of fifteen people waiting for them. They were scattered around the cavern in small clusters as if they had been relaxing with their midday meal instead of being on high alert. Some of them still had bowls of what smelled like stew in their hands. 

Blaise’s experienced eye noted that the bulk of them had combat experience and were armed with a variety of weapons. He picked out four magi, all of the evocation class judging by the component bags hanging off their belts. Tracey tapped a dark tan finger against xyr cheek, prompting Blaise to look again. This time he noticed the dark skinned man next to Dumbledore had a component bag on the opposite hilt from his sheathed sword.

Blaise blinked as he recognized the man.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was well known in the circles that Blaise and his partners traveled. Magi that were equally skilled with physical weapons and spells were uncommon. That was a part of why their group was so unique, as all three of them had that dual skill level. Shacklebolt was as well, but he had a specific focus to both. He was notorious about not taking jobs that didn’t involve that focus.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was a dragon hunter.

This whole situation made increasingly less sense.

“You’re working for  _ him _ ?!” Harini screeched. She stepped around Blaise like she was not aware that  _ she was his captive _ and jabbed an accusing finger at Dumbledore. The old man had the same annoyingly gentile smile on his face that he had worn while negotiating the deal for the job. Daphne, Tracey, and Luna settled themselves on a stone ledge near the entrance to the cavern as if the situation couldn’t erupt into a battle at any moment. “I’m insulted! You could at least have kidnapped me for a better opponent!”

“Harini, my dear girl,” Dumbledore greeted as he came towards their group. He didn’t seem surprised to see the princess without any kind of restraints. His smile did stiffen a little when she hadn’t seemed pleased to see him. “I was hoping that we could talk about some very serious matters.”

“I suppose your Order of the Flaming Mocking Jays is required for that,” she said waspishly. That was the moment when he realized that for all her annoying snark on the ride here, she hadn’t been nearly as antagonistic as she could have been. She was practically spitting fire with how angry she was with the old lord. “Don’t answer that. Of course you would want an audience for your high-handed manipulation attempt.”

“It’s not manipulation,” Dumbledore said placidly. His smile had dropped into a disapproving frown. “Your temper is unnecessary, my dear. I understand that you are upset—“

“Oh, you don’t understand at all,” Harini snarled. Her inky black curls shook like she was vibrating with her rage. “You suggested I accept Snape’s offer of marriage as if he hadn’t left the court in a fit of jealousy because my mother chose my father over him, as if he hadn’t joined the court of our sworn enemies!”

“It is  _ Lord _ Snape,” Dumbledore corrected firmly. Harini scoffed loudly. “And I trust him with my life. It would broker peace, my dear girl. I understand the idea might be upsetting—“

“MIGHT!”

“—but that is no reason for this childish outburst. You know that the Order of the Phoenix exists to serve the Greater Good of the kingdom.”

“Maybe that’s what they were at one point,” Harini allowed as she placed her fists on her hips, “but now they seem to serve whatever you think is the Greater Good.”

“I am afraid that you leave me no choice, my dear,” Dumbledore told her. He shook his head sadly and gestured for Shacklebolt to approach. “You are luckily that Lord Snape has graciously agreed to still wed you after your fit when he presented the offer. Mr. Shacklebolt will ensure that there will not be another such lapse in judgment.”

Things happened quickly from that point. Blaise couldn’t exactly piece together all of the sequence of events. One moment, Harini was throwing her hands up in frustration. The next she was gone and a young dragon (still intimidatingly large, though) was in her place. It lifted into the air with a couple beats of its emerald wings, limited by the ceiling of the cavern but still capable. It roared a challenge to the scrambling Order before unleashing a bout of flames as it turned its head from one side to the other.

The only one prepared for the assault was the dragon slayer. Shacklebolt neatly rolled out of the way. Somehow, he cast as he did so, or maybe he had the protection spell prepared ahead of time. Either way, he was covered in a thin layer of shimmering blue light which kept the flames from catching on his clothes the same way they had on other people’s clothing. 

Then he was throwing shards of ice at the dragon.

Blaise didn’t think any more than he would if a job had gone south. He slipped into the chaos of the battle with his ebony wand in one hand and copper dagger in the other. He focused his attacks on Shacklebolt, both because he was the only one attacking back as well as Harini’s flames had sent most of the Order scattering into the tender mercies of Daphne and Tracey. As a vicious looking redhead went shooting past with a flock of angry firebirds—the flame-colored dove-like creatures with long tails that filled the capital and necessitated fireproof building materials—Blaise noted that Luna also had a wand she was using to fight.

The battle ended when Blaise had stunned Shacklebolt to unconsciousness and Harini had Dumbledore pinned beneath one of her massive feet. The rest of the Order (those still alive, that was) had been gathered up and made to sit along the back wall of the cavern. Daphne was conjuring rope for Tracey to use to tie their hands. The women made sure to relieve them all of their weapons and any spell incidentals they had on them.

“I guess you’re professional enough,” Harini boomed. She shrank down into her human form as Luna spelled Dumbledore to sleep. Immediately, she crossed her arms and gave one of those huffy sighs. “I suppose you’ve earned some kind of reward for leading to capture of a seditious spider, his flaming mocking jays, and a well-known murderer. But don’t think I’m going to forget! You never answered my question about selling the seashells down at the seashore!”

This job had definitely been a mistake.

**Author's Note:**

> Submitting Info:  
> Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 14); MC4A  
> Individual Challenges: True Colours; Shadow HP Bribery (Y); Magical MC (x6); Shifter MC; Rian-Russo Inversion (x6); Ethnic & Present (x4); The 3rd Rule; Lovely Triangle; Ship Sails; Setting Sail; Old Shoes (Y); Bucket Listing; Short Jog; Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon  
> House: Slytherin  
> Assignment No.: Term 14 – Assignment 03  
> Subject (Task No.): Flying Lessons (Task#2: Write about standing one's ground.)  
> Other Hogwarts Challenges: Fantastic Beasts [65](Setting something on fire); 365 Prompts [174](Kingsley Shacklebolt); Scavenger Hunt [07](5 Collected Same Pairing)[2]; Days of the Year [Feb 5th](Someone's bubble being popped); National Weddings Month [05](Marriage); Crochet Week [06]("...seashells..."); Penguin Awareness [01]("...the truth..."); Colours [07](Mulberry); Flowers [09]("...plan..."); Crystals & Gemstones [05](Seer AU); Tarot Reading [01](Someone overwhelmed by work); But Can You Spell It? [D](Dragon AU); Stop! Hamper Time (Chutneys)[Mint & Coriander Chutney](Kingsley Shacklebolt); You Get My Love (Love Languages)[10]("Somewhere Only We Know" - Keane); Would You Rather (14)[Order of the Phoenix];Fantasy February (05)[Assasin & Prince]; Gwen's Candy Shop [Bowl 4](Trans - NB Tracey Davis); That Lovin' Feeling [List 1](03)]First Argument]  
> Other MC4A Challenges: FaB [1A](Spelunking); Set [1A](Desert); WiB [2B](Flight); Vocab [2A](Axiomatic); Ship (Heroic Shadow)[Fa Med 2](Traveling); Fire [Hard](Adventure Tales); Chim [Karma](Gender Bend); TWT (NB Tracey Davis; No Era)[Task 4](Green); Hangman [05](Queer Relationships); Hunt [Fa Set](Stone Circle/Monolith)/[Fa Con](Stew);  
> Representation(s): Fem Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini; Harry Potter/Luna Lovegood QPR; NB Tracey Davis/Daphne Greengrass adding Luna Lovegood; Dragon Shifter AU  
> Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Suddenly Audrey; Sweetest Burn; Misshapen Pods; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; Found Family; Nontraditional; Zucchini Bread; Middle Name; Unwanted Advice; Car in a Tutu; Clio’s Conclusion; Three’s Company; Deadliest Catch; Lovely Coconuts; Lyre Liar; Most Human Bean; Muck & Slime; Rock of Ages; Under the Bridge; Where Angels Fear; Darkest Day; Easy Zephyr); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi; Machismo; Peddling Pots; Fire Song; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow’s Shade; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Creature Feature; No Touchy; Wind Beneath; Head of Perseus; In the Trench; Suprise!; Forked Path; Some Beach; Getting On; Lost Llama; Hot Stuff; Mermaid; Land of Enchantment)  
> Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3(Toad); LiCK(Poppy; Ameliorate; Narcissus; Yarrow); FR(Satisfaction; Evolution); O3(Orator; Olivine); SS(Schooner; Shadow); RoIL(Satisfaction; Exuviation); FIN(Ensanguine; Imprecate); AD(Association; Arrangement); War(Orator; Obstruction); Wings(Scintillate); DP(Keen; Yearn); Share(Ameliorate)  
> Word Count: 2008 words


End file.
